Lipsmacking NYC Food Festival

It was wonderful to see 9th avenue blocked to traffic. Even if we had to take the longer route to get into NYC, it was well worth it when we immersed ourselves in the fest and all the delicacies it had to offer.

I had the world's best Lamb Gyro. Also some gorgeous fried shrimp which was gone before I could snap it up. I loved the calamari, which also included tiny whole octopus. The best drink? A glass of Sangria while sitting under an umbrella which was a pleasant time-out from walking around in the heat.

Small Plates, Smaller Portions

                                    

I had a cousin come over to stay for the last few days of spring break. It was lovely to take him around and indulge in margaritas, bar snacks and a juicy, custom-made chicken burger with a real ol-fashioned (drink) on the side. We even went to watch 'The Artist'. All of these things happened in intervals while I was cooking up a storm of comfort food, yellow dal, a spicy potato dish, lots of rice and a very spicy and rich Thai chicken curry. Needless to say, the binging took its toll this morning and I'm reducing my portions.

Last night, I cooked a dish of elbow macaroni and pesto with fried eggs and a few sticks of pork sausages (ripping off the tough skins). I ate the leftover 'mini' portion for lunch sprawled on the sofa with a new Claire Berlinski novel from the library and a glass of orange juice. I never thought I'd be the person eating mini portions. My body however seems to crave it. I'm also craving the juicy grapes I'd chomped on throughout the weekend.

I could really munch on some frozen grapes for dessert. What do you recover on after a night (or a few nights) of binging?

Reuben's Deli, West Hartford

Whenever I'm not cooking in my PJs, I'm walking through Hartford looking for great restaurants or even hot dog carts. The best thing about summer was walking through Bushnell Park and seeing events held out on the lawns - like the jazz festival where we heard some good music, sat for a while on the grass munching on some hot veggie tempura and then packed up a really great jerk chicken for our dinner.

Coming back to the present, we went a couple of weeks ago to West Hartford (my fave place) to watch a movie. We enjoyed ourselves sans popcorn and Diet Coke so we could go eat at Chipotle. After the movie, however, we took a rather long walk just to see what else was available on the street and we ended up inside Reuben's Deli hoping they'd find us a table. I had missed the knish experience while in NYC and, to my delight, they had on the menu.

This is how perfect it was to look at and to eat!

We then had the mains - I had half a pastrami on rye (the perfect rye, freshly made) and P had a half turkey and a split pea and ham soup. The bowl next to my sandwich was the yummiest potato salad - creamy, had a few crunchy celery bits and had the perfect biteable chunks of potato (not mushy).

Of course, it was potato overload and my stomach was very heavy even after my walk to Whole Foods and then the bus back home. But it was a great way to spend a Sunday - I'll definitely go back for another kind of sandwich. And next time will ask for their own baked Challah bread.